US embassy cable - 04PRETORIA4424

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 004424 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/S; EB/TPP/MTA/IPC; INL/C 
USDOC FOR 4510/ITA/IEP/ANESA/OA/J DIEMOND 
COMMERCE ALSO FOR HVINEYARD 
TREASURY FOR BRESNICK 
DEPT PASS USTR FOR AUSTR LISER, VESPINEL, PCOLEMAN 
DEPT PASS USPTO FOR MADLIN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR, ETRD, SF, AGOA, USTR 
SUBJECT: ADVANCING IPR ENFORCEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA THROUGH 
USPTO WORKSHOP AND IPACT SEMINAR FOR PROSECUTORS 
 
REF:  (A) PRETORIA 3158, (B) PRETORIA 1437, (C) STATE 160178 
 
1.  Summary.  The Intellectual Property Action Group 
(IPACT), which includes representatives of U.S. companies, 
organized two useful workshops on the enforcement of 
intellectual property rights in South Africa in August and 
September.  The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office funded the 
first workshop that featured the participation of over 60 
officials from the South African government and private 
sector.  The second event was a seminar for South African 
prosecutors that focused on the Counterfeit Goods Act, 
copyright, trademarks, and criminal cases.  Both events 
advanced U.S. economic interests in enforcing intellectual 
property rights.  End summary. 
 
2.  Less than a year ago, the Intellectual Property Action 
Group (IPACT) of South Africa formed a training subcommittee 
to help advance the enforcement of intellectual property 
rights (IPR) in South Africa.  The members of the 
subcommittee include the Recording Industry of South Africa 
(RISA), the South African Federation Against Copyright Theft 
(SAFACT), Microsoft, Embassy economic officer, and lawyers 
from major SA firms specializing in IPR law, including the 
firm that represents the Business Software Alliance (BSA). 
After several months of planning, the subcommittee succeeded 
in organizing two IPR events that took place on August 23 
and September 21 in Johannesburg.  Both events aimed to 
sensitize South African government officials about the 
importance of IPR and the need for more effective 
enforcement.  The South African government cooperated by 
providing speakers for the first event and nearly a hundred 
prosecutors from the Gauteng province for the second event. 
Both events advanced U.S. policy to promote the protection 
of intellectual property rights, an important goal of the 
African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). 
 
Workshop on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
3.  The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), IPACT and 
the U.S. Embassy organized the Workshop on Enforcement of 
Intellectual Property Rights on August 23 in Johannesburg. 
The USPTO funded the event (Reftel C).  Over sixty South 
African government officials participated, including 
representatives of the Department of Trade and Industry 
(DTI), DTI's Companies and Intellectual Property 
Registration Office (CIPRO), the Department of Health, the 
South African Police Service (SAPS), the South African 
Revenue Service (SARS), the Department of Foreign Affairs 
(DFA) and the Registrar of Trade Marks and Patents. 
Managers from leading U.S. pharmaceutical companies also 
attended and discussed solutions to their problems with SAG 
officials.  The media also covered the event. 
 
4.  Welcoming the South African participants, U.S. Consul 
General discussed the importance of IPR to virtually all 
modern economic activity.  The Chairman of IPACT recommended 
that the workshop become an annual feature.  He discussed 
the relationship between "creativity" and IPR, saying: 
 
"Creative genius in music and movies can entertain. Creative 
genius in medicine can heal and save lives. Although it has 
been argued, unsuccessfully I might add, that counterfeit 
products facilitate the free flow of information, they in 
fact merely feed off someone else's creativity. It is not a 
victimless crime when unscrupulous operators want to turn a 
profit on someone else's intellectual property.  The 
combined economic loss for the South African economy is 
huge. Intellectual Property theft is sometimes perceived as 
being a problem that only affects the bottom line of huge 
companies. Last week I had a meeting with the South African 
Trade Union of Musicians called MUSA. I can assure you that 
individual musicians in the rural areas of our country are 
as concerned about the effect that piracy has on their 
livelihood as any of the affected multi-national companies." 
 
5.  USPTO Attorney Advisor Michael Adlin delivered well- 
received presentations on counterfeit medicines and 
effective enforcement tools against optical disc and digital 
piracy.  A representative of the SA Department of Health 
discussed enforcement using the Medicines Control Act.  A 
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) official discussed 
optical disc and digital piracy.  (Note:  She will attend 
the USPTO Enforcement Academy program in October 2004.)  The 
Chairman of the Business Software Alliance (BSA) discussed 
software piracy issues.  The group marketing director of 
Johnnic Communications spoke on the importance of IPR 
enforcement for the film industry.   The Superintendent of 
the Computer Unit of the South African Police Force 
discussed investigative techniques along with two 
representatives of the South African Revenue Service. 
 
Seminar for Prosecutors 
----------------------- 
 
6.  On September 21 IPACT hosted a seminar for South African 
prosecutors.  IPACT invited nearly 100 prosecutors and 
nearly all of them attended the one-day event held at 
Microsoft's new offices.  Private sector attorneys 
specializing in IPR law focused on South Africa's 
Counterfeit Goods Act, discussed copyright and trademark 
enforcement issues, and described the economic harm of 
pirated goods.  There were also sections on expert evidence 
preparation, criminal case examples, and case study 
workshops.  IPACT described the event as a public private 
partnership. 
 
FRAZER